1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for performing chemical and biological analyses. More particularly, the present invention relates to the design and use of an analyzer system which employs analytical substrates evaluated in a base unit, where an adapter is used as an interface between the substrate and the base unit.
Numerous systems and instruments are available for performing chemical, clinical, and environmental analyses of chemical and biological specimens. Conventional systems may employ a variety of detection devices for monitoring a chemical or physical change which is related to the composition or other characteristic of the specimen being tested. Such instruments include spectrophotometers, fluorometers, light detectors, radioactive counters, magnetometers, galvanometers, reflectometers, ultrasonic detectors, temperature detectors, pressure detectors, mephlometers, electrophoretic detectors, PCR systems, LCR systems, and the like. Such instruments are often combined with electronic support systems, such as microprocessors, timers, video displays, LCD displays, input devices, output devices, and the like, in a stand-alone analyzer. Such analyzers may be adapted to receive a sample directly but will more usually be designed to receive a sample placed on a sample-receiving substrate, such as a dipstick, cuvette, analytical rotor or the like. Usually, the sample-receiving substrate will be made for a single use (i.e. will be disposable), and the analyzer will include the circuitry, optics, sample manipulation, and other structure necessary for performing the assay on the substrate. As a result, most analyzers are intended to work only with a single type of sample-receiving substrate and are not readily adaptable to be used with other substrates.
Recently, a new class sample-receiving substrate has been developed, referred to as "microfluidic" systems. Microfluidic substrates have networks of chambers connected by channels which have mesoscale dimensions, where at least one dimension is usually between 0.1 .mu.m and 500 .mu.m. Such microfluidic substrates may be fabricated using photolithographic techniques similar to those employed in the semiconductor industry, and the resulting devices can be used to perform a variety of sophisticated chemical and biological analytical techniques. Microfluidic analytical technology has a number of advantages, including the ability to employ very small sample sizes, typically on the order of nanoliters. The substrates may be produced at a relatively low cost, and can be formatted to perform numerous specific analytical operations, including mixing, dispensing, valving, reactions, and detections.
Because of the variety of analytical techniques and potentially complex sample flow patterns that may be incorporated into particular microfluidic test substrates, significant demands may be placed on the analytical units which support the test substrates. The analytical units not only have to manage the direction and timing of flow through the network of channels and reservoirs on the substrate, they may also have to provide one or more physical interactions with the samples at locations distributed around the substrate, including heating, cooling, exposure to light or other radiation, detection of light or other emissions, measuring electrical/electrochemical signals, pH, and the like. The flow control management may also comprise a variety of interactions, including the patterned application of voltage, current, or power to the substrate (for electrokinetic flow control), or the application pressure, acoustic energy or other mechanical interventions for otherwise inducing flow.
It can thus be seen that a virtually infinite number of specific test formats may be incorporated into microfluidic test substrates. Because of such variety and complexity, many if not most of the test substrates will require specifically configured analyzers in order to perform a particular test. Indeed, it is possible that particular test substrates employ more than one analyzer for performing different tests. The need to provide one dedicated analyzer for every substrate and test, however, will significantly reduce the flexibility and cost advantages of the microfluidic systems.
It would therefore be desirable to provide improved analytical systems and methods which overcome or substantially mitigate at least some of the problems set forth above. In particular, it would be desirable to provide analytical systems including base analytical units which can support a number of different microfluidic or other test substrates having substantially different flow patterns, chemistries, and other analytical characteristics. It would be particularly desirable to provide analytical systems where the cost of modifying a base analytical unit to perform different tests on different test substrates is significantly reduced.
2. Description of the Background Art
Microfluidic devices for analyzing samples are described in the following patents and published patent applications: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,498,392; 5,486,335; and 5,304,487; and WO 96/04547. An analytical system having an analytical module which connects to an expansion receptacle of a general purpose computer is described in WO 95/02189. A sample typically present on an analytical rotor or other sample holder, may be placed in the receptacle and the computer used to control analysis of the sample in the module. Chemical analysis systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,510,082; 5,501,838; 5,489,414; 5,443,790; 5,344,326; 5,344,349; 5,270,006; 5,219,526; 5,049,359; 5,030,418; and 4,919,887; European published applications EP 299 521 and EP 6 031; and Japanese published applications JP 3-101752; JP 3-094158; and JP 49-77693.
The disclosure of the present application is related to the following co-pending applications, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, application Ser. No. 60/015498 (provisional), filed on Apr. 16, 1996; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,942,443, 5,779,868, 5,800,690, and 5,699,157.